The Kiss of a Gypsy
by Daisie
Summary: Harry's in denial. Ron's in love. Hermione's in the middle. Draco's instigating. Dean's insinuating. Voldemort's involved. And what's this bit about a gypsy? INDEFINITELY UNFINISHED! DON'T BOTHER!
1. That Train

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey, her family, and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. Just for fun. :-)

***Chapter One***

"Ooh La La," exclaimed Luna Lovegood, as a glossy centerfold fell out of the copy of the _Quibbler_ that she was reading. 

"What is it Luna?" asked Ginny Weasley, raising an eyebrow at Loony Luna. The latter only blushed and stuffed picture back into the magazine, setting it down carefully beside her. 

"It's nothing really," she said blushingly, turning to look out of the window. 

"Let's see for ourselves then Gin," said Harry mischievously, as he made the magazine levitate off of the seat and float toward Ginny. 

"You'll be disappointed…" warned Luna. 

"Where is it," mumbled Ginny as she opened the magazine to its middle. She pulled a face before nearly throwing it to Harry.

"Luna, what isthis all about?" he asked, folding the picture properly before handing it back over to her. The fold had shown a full-grown giant frolicking in the sun, wearing a disgustingly tight swim costume. 

When Harry looked back to Luna the blush had long faded from her face and had been replaced by an indignant frown. "It's a story about how the ministry is working to get the giants on our side by turning them into mindless beasts." 

"Whatever you say Luna," said Ginny quietly, turning back to the window. 

Harry sighed quietly and wondered how much longer Ron and Hermione would be. They had gone off to the lavatories a good twenty minutes ago and had yet to resurface. As if on cue, they strolled into the carriage. "Took you long enough," smirked Harry as he slid over to make room for them between him and Ginny. 

"I can take a hint," she said, moving to sit next to Luna.  

 "Well what have you three been up to?" asked Hermione, looking from Ginny to Harry and back again. 

"We could ask you two the same thing," mused Harry, "but I think you'd rather see this." Luna had been slowly moving the magazine behind her, but Harry gave her an extremely pitiful look and she acquiesced.

"See what?" asked Ron curiously, as Luna passed him the magazine. He flipped the pages innocently for a moment or two before screaming and dropping the magazine in revulsion. "You lot are lucky that the cart hasn't come round yet, or else I'd be spewing sick on every one of you right this moment."

"This is pathetic," tutted Hermione, examining the fold. 

"Pathetic?" exclaimed Ron, "Pathetic? I'll tell you what's pathetic, the feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'll be in the loo… again… if anyone needs me." 

"What a drama queen," said Luna gloomily.

Ginny all rolled her eyes while Harry and Hermione sighed in unison. 

"Look, he was probably faking, I bet he's standing right outside the door," said Ginny, as she reached into one of her pockets. "Ha, wrong one," she laughed, showing two of her fingers peeking out of a hole. "I'll have to remember to mend that." She put her hand in another pocket and pulled out a handful of dungbombs. "Watch this," she whispered, magically opening the compartment door before pelting the bombs with all her strength. 

"What the…" came a familiar voice from the hallway. 

"Oops," said Ginny, sitting innocently next to Luna. The door slid open and Draco Malfoy leant on the doorframe, absently toying with the dungbombs in his hand. The shadows of his bodyguard like friends, Crabbe and Goyle, were the only parts of them visible as they lurked just out of sight.

"Who's responsible for this?" demanded Draco coolly. 

"They belong to me," said Ginny, standing up. "Give them here," she added, extending her hand to him. 

"And what do you plan on doing with them? Are you going to sell them in Hogsmeade, going to try and make some money to support your family? Maybe buy some new robes, or new hair perhaps," he drawled, lifting a strand of Ginny's hair roughly with his wand. 

"If I were you, I'd watch my food carefully tonight," she retorted, snatching the bombs out of his hand and snapping her hair out of his grasp.  

Draco sniffed. "Where's your brother Weaselette? Your parents decide that they could only afford to send one of you to school this year? Pity you don't all just die of starvation and get it over with…"

"Sod off Malfoy," said Hermione, deciding that this had gone far enough. 

"I'll 'sod off' when I'm good and ready, thank you… and what's your problem Potter? Too busy having a conversation with the Dark Lord in your head to say anything?" he taunted. 

"Just go ahead and leave ferret-boy," said Harry threateningly, rising slowly with his wand extended. 

 Minutes after Draco left, Hermione adjusted herself in the seat so that she faced Harry. 

"I was wondering," she began, "why _didn't _you do anything about Draco before?" she asked, trying to make the topic seem casual. 

"Because Ginny was doing a fine job of fending him off on her own," he answered, giving Ginny a look of approval. "Why do you ask though?" 

"No reason," she answered quickly, perhaps too quickly because Ginny nodded in understanding before frowning at Hermione. 

"Malfoy's just a git. He doesn't matter," she said decisively, shooting Hermione another glare. Harry frowned, not understanding the silent exchange between Ginny and Hermione. And instead of bothering himself with it, he resignedly looked back to the window. He couldn't help but grin though when he heard Ginny whine, "but where does he get off talking about _my_ hair? Have you seen the amount of Sleek- Easys he uses?" 

"Harry!" exclaimed Ron in a half-whisper, half-shout as he skidded into the car, closing the door quickly behind him. Dean's on his way here, with Cho! I tried to distract her, we even sent her in the wrong direction twice but she's determined!" he said breathlessly. 

"Merlin, just what I need right now… I'm asleep," said Harry, thinking fast. He laid his head down on Hermione's shoulder and curled his legs up onto the seat. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the clicking noises of disapproval coming from Luna. 

"Hi you guys!" yelled Dean, obviously trying to warn everyone of his and Cho's arrival. 

"Shhh!" scolded Hermione, pointing to Harry on her shoulder. 

"Oh. Sorry," he said, nodding vigourously before turning to Cho and putting a finger to his lips. 

"Hullo…" she said cautiously, meeting reproachful glares from Hermione and Ginny. The former offered a small greeting and Ginny just continued to glare. 

"This is your _last_ year here isn't it?" Ginny asked politely. 

"Yes," answered Cho, almost sadly. 

"Oh. Well. Then we'll be seeing you around then. And since you obviously came for Harry and since he's unavailable you'll be on your way now…" 

"I suppose," she said, turning to leave. "But would you tell Harry that I came by when he wakes up?" 

"I suppose," mimicked Ginny as Cho left. 

"You can get up now Harry," said Hermione, wiggling slightly under his weight. "Harry?" she called again, nudging him. It proved to no avail though, because Harry Potter had actually fallen asleep on Hermione's shoulder. 

"Those must be some shoulder pads you're wearing there Herm," said Ron sarcastically, prodding Hermione's free shoulder. 

"Very funny Ronald…" 

~*~*~*~

Harry was walking in Forbidden Forest, or so it seemed. He saw Firenze off to his left, standing amongst a group of centaurs, the hoof mark on his chest glowing in the moonlight. Harry wanted badly to go and help him, but his legs carried him away, farther into the night. He came to a small pond and for a moment lost himself in his reflection. Only across the pond he saw a gallant stag, prancing gaily about, bucking its head for Harry to come join it. He walked casually through the pond, whose waters were surprisingly shallow. He reached out and touched the stag, but as soon as he did, he felt that familiar tugging sensation behind his navel. The stag had been a port key. 

Harry felt himself soaring unsteadily though space. A loud cackling filled his head as he landed with a soft thud on the muddy ground. 'Stop it' he called to the laughter, 'just stop!' And it did. An eerie voice filled its space. 

"Your hands Potter. Your hands are stained with his blood. It's your fault. It will always be your fault." Harry looked down at his hands. They _were_ covered in blood. But it was his own. His own hands were bleeding freely, mixing with the blood of someone else. He was beginning to feel light-headed, and the tugging was no longer in his stomach, but on his cloak. Someone was trying to wake him up. 

Harry sat up straight and opened his eyes wearily. He instinctively looked down at his hands. They were perfectly clean, but he felt the urge to clean them. He rubbed them vigourously on his knees before turning his head up to look around. 

"That was some nap Harrry," said Ron, "we've been trying to wake you for ages… I told Hermione you were just sleeping but she went ahead and owled Dumbledore." 

"I'm really sorry Harry… but we've got to go to his office as soon as we get to Hogwarts," said Hermione quietly. 

"It's fine Herm. I've got some things to talk to him about anyway…"

"I _swear_ there's something odd about this train," muttered Ron in amazement. 


	2. First Sight

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. Just for fun. :-) 

***Chapter Two ***

"No, No, No... It's more or less a *hame hame*" said Hermione, trying her best to imitate their former teacher and headmistress, Professor Umbridge.

"No! I think it was like *a herm herm* right?" asked Harry, stifling a laugh.

"You're both wrong," said Ginny Weasley as she took a seat next to Harry, Hermione, and her older brother Ron. "If my memory serves me right, and I'm sure it does, it was... wait for it...*hem hem*" As Ginny spoke, Neville Longbottom who had been sitting nearby jumped. He looked around frantically but when Ginny waved at him he let out a feeble laugh. 

"Er... Ron?" asked Ginny cautiously, turning her attention back to him. "What's the matter with you? The last time I did my Umbridge impression, you had pumpkin juice coming out of your nose!" 

There was still no response. 

"Ron? RON? Ronald Weasley!" screeched Ginny as Harry waved his hands in front of Ron's face.

"SHHHH..." whispered Ron swatting Harry's hands away. 

"Don't you dare shush _me_," exclaimed Ginny indignantly as she put her hands on her hips in an imitation of her mother. She didn't get the response that she wanted however, because Ron had floated back to cloud nine. "Oh well. I've got go meet… some friends so we can... er... work on our Potions project," she said carefully. "I'll see you guys later..." and with that Ginny gathered her belongings and scampered off. 

"See you," called Hermione to Ginny's retreating back. 

"Yeah, see you Gin..." said Harry absentmindedly. He was busy trying to follow Ron's gaze across the Great Hall. Fortunately for he and Hermione, Ron began showing signs of life shortly after Ginny's departure. 

"Isn't she gorgeous? She's _got _to be a veela," stated Ron dreamily. 

"Ron... who are you talking about? And where is she sitting?" asked Hermione as though she was speaking to a five-year-old. 

"Right in front of us... the one with the hair and the face and, and the hair..." he said slowly. 

"Ron that's not very helpful… Care to be more specific?" 

"Merlin, how can you two not see her? Ah! She's getting up now! I've never seen anyone pack her book bag quite like that before, it's so, so, so perfect!" 

"Oh!" exclaimed Harry and Hermione in unison as they caught sight of the mystery girl.

She was sitting directly across from them at the Ravenclaw table next to Cho Chang. She seemed a plain Jane, nothing striking about her. Most noticeable though, were the dark circles under her eyes that were somewhat hidden by her long fringe. As they watched, she was muttering something to Cho and hastily shoving her books into her bag. 

"Honestly Ron, what's so special about _her_?" demanded Hermione. 

"Hermione's got a point... she's no Fleur..." added Harry.

"And Ron, she's definitely not a veela, her hair isn't even remotely blonde… and she's notpretty enough." Hermione grinned despite Ron's glare. 

"Why haven't we seen her before?" he asked, coming back to Earth. "I would have noticed her…" 

"I suppose," said Hermione shortly, "she's probably in Hufflepuff or something. No one ever really notices them." 

By the time they had turned back to her, she had already managed her way to the place at the Gryffindor table where the trio sat. She cast a glance at Ron and he grinned. She looked to Harry and Hermione and stopped walking. She strode over to them and a weak smile graced her face. 

"Ron is it?" she asked timidly. 

"Yep. Ronald Weasley," he blushed. "But Ron is fine, how did you...?" she cut him off. 

"Cho said that you might be able to help me... would you mind showing me where Dumbledore's office is?" 

"Of course not..." he said, transfixed. 

"Of course not meaning yes or no?" she asked, with a slight trace of concern in her voice. 

"Who are you?" interjected Neville quietly. He had been sitting nearby and had apparently just taken notice of the girl's presence. Both Harry and Hermione took this opportunity to breath an audible sigh of relief. They had wanted to ask the same question, but at the same time didn't want to come across as offensive. 

"Oh. Sorry," she smiled once again; "I'm Liliana... Grey," she added as an afterthought. "I'm really sorry but I'm a bit pressed for time and haven't enough for formal introductions... So would you mind?" she said, once again turning her attention to Ron. 

"Oh. Well then, let's go..." he threw his books into his school bag and stood.

"What do you say we follow them?" proposed Harry, after the pair had disappeared through the doors. 

"Feeling a bit adventurous are we?" she asked.

Harry nodded vigorously.

"Then let's," said Hermione, rivaling Harry's excitement as they stood to leave. 

~*~*~*~

"They think they're all so bloody special," said Draco bitterly. He and his crony, Blaise Zabini had been watching the scene between the Dream Team and the new girl unfold over at the Gryffindor table. "Filthy mudblood scum..." he muttered. 

"I agree," said Blaise gruffly. 

"I know. That's your job," replied Draco plainly. 

"When is she coming to Slytherin?"

"Do I look like I give a..." he was cut off by the unmistakable wail of Pansy Parkinson. 

"OOOh... Draco! I know something you don't!" She was overly excited and visibly unperturbed by the face that Draco pulled at the mere sight of her. "Crabbe and Goyle got letters from their fathers earlier this morning..." she was obviously hoping that he would grab at the bait that she had just set. Unfortunately for her, Draco just continued to stare contemptuously at her. "Well..." she began, slightly abashed, " I have _yours_! Aren't you just itching to know what it's about?" 

"Not really," he drawled, "but I am _very _interested to know how exactly you got your filthy little paws on my mail." With his last words he flashed her the coldest glare he could muster under the circumstances and snatched the letter away.

"It was sent to me. So it wouldn't be too suspicious," she took a seat on Blaise's lap and grinned devilishly. "Aren't you going to open it doll?" 

"You disgust me Parkinson," he said loudly. "I'm leaving..." 

"You want that peach?" asked Blaise, referring to the untouched fruit that sat peacefully on Draco's otherwise empty plate. 

"Have it," he said, carefully folding his letter before tucking it into his cloak and striding away. 

~*~*~*~

"This is it," said Ron as he and Liliana came to a stop in front of the gargoyles that guarded Dumbledore's office. "But how do you plan on getting in? I don't suppose you know the password?" 

"Wait..." she said softly, "just watch." She positioned herself squarely in front of the larger of the two gargoyles and wiped her hands on her robes. She placed it gently behind its massive ear and slowly slid it down, following the curves of its ugly face. As she did this, Ron felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as if she had just touched his face instead of the gargoyle's. When her hand reached the gargoyle's chin, she stepped back expectantly and the gargoyle jumped forward to let them in. 

Just as Harry and Hermione rounded the corner and the gargoyles came into view, they saw a flash of red hair disappearing up into the staircase. Before they could reach the statues however, the passageway had disappeared completely and the reality that they didn't know the password dawned. 

"Hell..." said Hermione quietly. Harry shot her a very surprised look. "What?" she demanded.

"I haven't heard you swear...ever," he smiled playfully at her, "well... maybe not ever, but not recently."

"Oh come on Harry, do you or do you not want to find out what's going on?" 

"Of course I do." He turned his attention back to the gargoyle, which he had noticed had a strange grin splayed across its stone face. "Er... gumballs, fizzing whiz-bees, Er... come on Hermione help me."

"But I don't know any good sweee-..." The smaller gargoyle interrupted her. 

"Just go in. He's in a good mood," he said, indicating his larger counterpart, "but you lot best handle your business quickly and be out." 

"Hurry up Harry!" shouted Hermione from inside the staircase. Harry had been staring at the gargoyle in shock after it spoke and hadn't noticed the appearance of the stairs. 

"I'm coming..." he mumbled as he sprinted up the stairs.

*End of Second Chapter* 


	3. In Dumbledore's Office

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. This is just for fun. :-) 

****

*Chapter Three* 

When Liliana and Ron reached the door, they only hesitated to knock. The pair exchanged brief looks of uncertainty and Liliana tentatively pushed open the door. She murmured a quick, "Hello?" and then walked in. She ushered Ron into the room after her and quietly shut the door behind them. 

"Would you mind waiting with me... at least until Dumbledore gets here?" she asked meekly. "That is, I mean, if you don't have anything else to do now..." 

"No," he answered shortly, "No... Er... What I meant was, I don't have anything to do for a little while... at least not until break is over..." He was blushing furiously now, and wish as he might that the color would fade from his face, or that he would disappear all together, Liliana noticed it.

"Are you all right?" she asked kindly. "You're absolutely flushed."

Ron's brain was frantically searching for a plausible excuse for his behavior, "I'm not feeling too well," he blurted. 

"Oh. Is it a fever?" Her expression quickly changed from sympathy to worry. 

"Maybe..." he began, "but it's probably nothing," he added after seeing the concern on her face. 

"Nonsense..." She took out her wand and touched the tip of it to his nose. 

"What are you doing?" he asked anxiously. 

"Just stay still..." she smiled reassuringly, "Temperantia Medic-"

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Hermione from the doorway. She and Harry had just come through the door and had only seen Liliana with her wand dangerously close to Ron's nose. "Well?" 

"I'm getting rid of his fever..." answered Liliana defensively. 

"What fever?" asked Hermione skeptically, as she strode over to Ron and placed her hand on his forehead. "Oh, well he is a bit warm..." she began with unease, "but where do you get off trying to heal him? What do you think you are? A mediwitch or something?"

"No. A healer in training..." she replied frankly, "now would you mind?" 

"Go on then," said Hermione as she stepped away and crossed her arms over her chest. "If you do anything other than make him better..." she trailed off precariously. 

"Ready?" Liliana asked Ron. After a quick glance at a livid Hermione, he nodded. "O.K. then, Temperantia Medicosa!" Ron felt a wave of coolness surge up from the heels of his feet and wash over his face. "Better?" she asked modestly. 

He conjured a mirror, "much better." Ron looked back to Hermione and laughed to himself. She was still fuming and now muttering something under her breath about a "show off, whelk faced" someone or other. 

"Are you really training to be a healer?" asked Harry curiously, from the doorway. 

"I do believe that she took a few supplementary classes in school last year..." said Professor Dumbledore from behind Harry. 

"Oh. Hello there Professor," he replied, as he stepped away from the door to allow Dumbledore to pass. 

"Good Afternoon Harry, Miss. Granger, Mr. Weasley, Liliana," said Dumbledore pleasantly as his eyes swept the room. "I suppose you received my note," he said specifically to Liliana as he took his place behind his grand desk. 

"I suppose we'll all be going now," interjected Hermione hastily as she headed towards the door.

"Not yet," said Ron bravely, "if it's all right with you Professor, I have a few questions..." Dumbledore lowered his head once in agreement. "First of which; who is _she_?" with that Ron looked apologetically to Liliana and then expectantly back to Dumbledore.

"Your confusion is just Mr. Weasley," began Dumbledore as he removed his spectacles. "I'd forgotten that you, Miss. Granger, and Harry were in my office during the Sorting..." he now turned his attention to Liliana, "did I mention to you that these three students know about the Order as well?"

"I don't think you did," she responded, a bit startled at Dumbledore's sudden address. Her attention was focused on a shadowy figure moving about in the doorway. 

Dumbledore now shifted his gaze back to the trio. "No need to be alarmed," he said to Harry who was slightly taken aback at Dumbledore's mention of the Order. "Liliana is quite familiar with the Order as her parents a part of the ABOP."

"The ABOP?" asked Ron incredulously. 

"Yes," stated Dumbledore plainly.

"It stands for the American Branch of the Order of the Phoenix," added Liliana. 

"Indeed it does. And as it remains, Liliana's parents will be away on assignment for... well they will be away for quite a while and since she's staying with her grandmother that happens to live in London, she will be attending Hogwarts this semester as a sixth year. And due to the fact that she will only be with us for one year, I'm allowing her to choose her own house. The plan is for her to spend three meals with each house and then on Friday evening she will make her decision," Dumbledore paused and smiled, "How were Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff dear?"

"They were fine," she replied wearily, "I'm just soo exhausted."

"Is time not treating you well?" asked Dumbledore with the familiar sparkle dancing in his eyes. 

"No. It hasn't been treating me well at all. Can you tell?" she asked sarcastically, sweeping her hand around her face.

"And I'm just assuming when I say that you haven't been using your pensieve either..."

"No. I haven't had the time to use it..." 

"Well one can only hope that you'll have the time to read a letter from your parents," said Dumbledore cheerily, as he pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket. 

"Where are they?" she asked emotionlessly. 

"You know that if I could tell you I would." 

Liliana rolled her eyes, "But you can't, probably for my own good I suppose... I'm not sure that I want that letter anymore," she said, folding her arms like a rebellious child. 

"But would you care to know what the letter entails?" 

"Go on." 

"When your parents discovered that your sister had decided to stay with her friend in New York, they were beside themselves to say least. The letter was simply to prepare you for her arrival..." 

"O.K. Maybe I will read the letter..." she grinned as she took the letter from Dumbledore. "Arrival where? Here?" she asked loudly, scanning the first few lines of the letter, her eyes bright with excitement... "When's the third?" 

"If I'm not mistaken, today is September third." 

"What?" 

"Kathryn..." called Dumbledore as he extended his arm to the small hooded figure in the doorway. Four heads snapped around to see the figure lower its hood, revealing a smaller and doubly better groomed version of Liliana. 

"Kitty!" exclaimed Liliana, as she ran over and embraced her sister. "What are you doing here?" 

"Ileana and Dad didn't want me to stay with Heather anymore. They said that her parents weren't capable of taking care of me... 'What if something happened? They wouldn't know what to do... It's for your own safety Katherine,'" she said, imitating her mother's stern voice. She seemed close to tears. "And now Heather isn't speaking to me..."

"Heather doesn't matter..." said Liliana warmly. "You look so pretty," she commented, surveying her baby sister's face. 

"And you don't," returned Kitty bluntly.

"I've been extremely busy. You couldn't even begin to imagine how much I've been doing lately..." 

Hermione cleared her throat loudly. 

"What?" asked Liliana curtly.

"Hi," said Kitty sweetly before shooting her sister a frown and going over to introduce herself to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. 

"So how are you going to sort her?" asked Liliana once the introductions had been made and everyone had gotten comfortable in seats in front of Dumbledore's desk. Moments earlier, Kitty had pointed her wand at Liliana and exclaimed, "Belez Refresque!" The spell erased the dark circles from her older sister's face and fixed her hair into an polished ponytail. The spell had also noticeably improved Liliana's mood. 

"Please let me use the Sorting Hat!" squealed Kitty excitedly. 

"Yes, let her..." said Liliana. "The hat's sort of put off because I'm choosing my own house. He's not speaking to anyone..." she explained. Instinctively, everyone's gaze traveled to the shelf where the hat usually sat. In his place was a simple black hat box bearing the sign, *Do Not Disturb.* 

"I think that's a splendid idea, and why don't we do it now? We've got a great audience, and this way the elves will know where to put your belongings." Dumbledore glided over the shelf and whispered something to the box. The Sorting Hat sprung out, landing on a desk. He looked around and cracked an odd, lopsided smile. 

"Well Well," it said, "who do we have here?" 

"This is Katherine Grey, Liliana's sister," beamed the Headmaster, "she'll be joining us this semester as well..." 

"A third year I presume..." asked the hat, while staring intently at Kitty. 

"Nope!" she exclaimed proudly. "I'm a fourth-year, just because I'm a bit advanced," she said with a slight trace of modesty. 

"Intelligence..." muttered the hat. Dumbledore gently lifted the frail hat and placed it on Kitty's head.

"No song?" she asked aloud. Hermione and Liliana laughed, then stopped abruptly and glared at each other. 

"Definitely cunning," said the hat, "maybe Slytherin..."

"Which one is Slytherin again?" interrupted Kitty. 

"Never mind that," began the hat, "maybe Hufflepuff... No... AHA!" Everyone watched with bated breath. "Ravenclaw!" 

"That was... fun," said Katherine distractedly, as Dumbledore removed the hat. 

Harry groaned. "We've got Herbology with the Hufflepuffs in exactly five minutes. I guess we'll be seeing you around then..." he said, standing up to leave. 

"Harry, would you and Ron take Liliana to class with you? I expect it's high time for her to get to know Gryffindor a bit better. And Katherine, Dobby is waiting just outside to take you to the Ravenclaw Commons room. Samantha Crane is one of the prefects there and she'll be expecting you. You all may leave, but I would like a word with you, Hermione." 

So they descended the stairs in pairs. Ron and Harry walked very slowly so that they could mouth *why* to Hermione. She responded with a look of confusion and shrugged. 

When they reached level ground, Katherine had already left and Liliana was just bending down to tie her shoelaces. 

"Hey Liliana..." said Harry slowly, "how'd you and Ron get in?"

"Well..." she began, getting back up. As she reached her full height, the gargoyle that she had dealt with earlier reached out to grab her around the neck. Ron pulled her away just in time and she yelled. 

"You O.K.?" Ron laughed nervously, he felt his face reddening since he had pulled her right into his chest. 

"Thanks Ron, I'm fine... but would you..." she asked politely, indicating his arms, which were wrapped tightly around her waist. 

"Oh. Sorry..." he muttered; his face going from crimson to white. 

"Hmmph!" exclaimed Hermione as she turned on her heel and stormed off down the hall. 

A/N: Finally! Whew... that one chapter took me forever... hope you liked it. Please Review... I think I could use some betas for my later chapters... Anyone interested? I hope so... :-)Well review please... 


	4. Simple Words

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am writing this for my own amusement and the amusement of my readers and I am not being paid in any way. 

*Chapter Four*

"Yeah... I don't think she's _ever _going to like me..." said Liliana, frowning. 

"And she's never going to speak to me again," said Ron seriously as he ran after her. 

"Guess it's just us then..." said Harry. Liliana exhaled noisily and turned to follow him down the hall. 

"So what did you say your name was?" she asked, once they began their trek across the grounds. 

"Harry. Potter," he said placidly, turning around to see her reaction. She stopped and extended her hand. Harry eyed her cautiously and shook it. "Didn't we do this already?" 

"I don't know, did we?" Harry shrugged in response and kept walking. When they reached the door to the greenhouse Harry pushed it open and walked in, causing it to close loudly in Liliana's face. 

"Oops," he mouthed as she opened the door for herself. 

"It's fine," she said with a slight trace of scorn in her voice.

Harry walked over to a vacant table and sat down on the garden bench behind it. "Do you mind?" asked Liliana dryly as she sat down on the opposite end of the bench. Harry shrugged again.

Just then Professor Sprout walked in and began taking attendance. "Where are Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger?" she asked. 

Harry raised his hand hesitantly, "I saw Hermione run to the nurse and Ron went after her to make sure that everything was fine. They should be here anytime now." 

"Well Mr. Potter, not that I don't believe you, but was there anyone else around who can confirm that story?" 

"Liliana was there," said Harry, shooting her a pleading look. 

"Is that true Miss?" asked the Professor. 

Liliana looked appraisingly at Harry, "I was there..." she began, "and I think that I remember Hermione saying something about feeling ill."

"Very well then," said Professor Sprout pleasantly. 

Ron and Hermione didn't turn up for class at all. So Harry and Liliana were stuck as partners. The pair tried their best to be civil to one another, but it was nearly impossible. They had been examining a leaf of the Oublais plant when Harry had innocently advised Liliana to smell the leaf, as he had. They ended up spending a solid fifteen minutes not being able to remember who they were or what they were doing. When the effects of the plant finally wore off, Liliana was resolute in not speaking to Harry at all. Harry then blamed her when they lost points for Gryffindor. He'd taken off his glove to feel the stalk of the Ferriolar plant and as soon as he touched it, his hand began turning silver. Then when he touched the silver with his right hand, it began turning as well. Professor Sprout had angrily taken five points away for their lack of teamwork. She also refused to fix his hands.

When class was finally over, Liliana sprang out of her chair and rushed for the door. Harry was out of the greenhouse about a minute afterward, but when he looked around at his classmates, he didn't see Liliana. "Oh well..." he thought as he shoved his silver hands into his pockets and began walking toward the castle. 

It wasn't until lunch, immediately after, that the trio reunited. Hermione was going through her Herbology book to find the antidote for Harry when Liliana reappeared. 

"I'm sorry," she said quietly to Hermione as she sat down beside her. Hermione didn't look away from her book or acknowledge Liliana's presence in any way. "I didn't realize that Ron was your boyfriend, otherwise I would have just let the gargoyle strangle me." When Hermione looked at her she smirked and bit loudly into an apple. She put another in her pocket and went to sit by her sister at the Ravenclaw table.

"What was that all about?" asked Ron, who had been too busy eating to listen to what Liliana had said.

"She thinks that you're my boyfriend..." said Hermione, still glaring at Liliana as she walked away. 

"Why'd she say that?" 

"I don't know, something about a gargoyle or something..." 

"Oh," said Harry simply. "You didn't see that part, did you Mione?" 

"See what part?" she responded.

"When you came down, you only saw her hugging Ron, right?" 

"Yes... the little wench had her hands..." began Hermione.

She was interrupted by Ron's laughter. She shot him a look and he stopped immediately. "When we were going into Dumbledore's office she did this thing to gargoyle to make him let us in. But I guess it liked her a bit too much... So when she knelt in front of it to tie her shoes... it tried to grab her. So I pulled her away from it, a little too hard, I guess 'cause she ended up in my arms..." Hermione's face softened. "Then you came down and ran off." 

"You know what she said before Ron went after you?" asked Harry, picking at his potpie. 

"Well of course not..." said Hermione, looking at the book but not really reading it. 

"Something about wanting to get along with you... and then in Herbology she went along with the story I made up about you so that you two wouldn't get in trouble..." 

"Oh," said Hermione guiltily. 

"Anyway," said Harry, as though nothing before mattered. "You were telling us what Dumbledore said to you."

"He was just asking me to be kind to Liliana and kind of serve as her guide or something... you know, since I'm prefect and all... I don't know..." She suddenly perked up, "Here it is!" 

"The antidote?" asked Ron.

"Yup..." said Hermione somewhat cheerfully, "Harry can I have your pot pie?" 

"Er... Sure," he said, passing it to her across the table. 

She used her fork to pull out two carrots. She handed them to Harry and smiled at his confusion. "Rub them on your hands, the carotene in them will cancel out the silver color."

"Oh." 

~*~*~*~*~

On their way to Potions, Ron caught sight of Liliana walking alone and ran ahead to speak to her. 

"He really likes her, doesn't he?" Hermione asked, seeing the look on Ron's face when Liliana smiled at him. 

"Probably," said Harry thoughtfully, "and you don't. Why?" 

"She's no good for him..." She was too busy staring at her shoes to look at Harry when she spoke. 

"What do you mean? You've yet to spend five minutes getting to know her." 

"And since when are you her spokesperson?" asked Hermione playfully. 

"This isn't about me." 

"Well," said Hermione matching Harry's seriousness. "I don't like how he gets when he's around her.. It's like he would do anything she asked him to. And what kind of person doesn't support the Order? For all we know, she's on the waiting list to become a Death Eater." She was on a roll now, "And the girls a _gypsy _for crying out loud! She's probably never stayed in one place for more than a month, and I bet she's never had a relationship that's lasted more than a week... if that much."

"Tsk Tsk, that's no way to talk about one of your friends... mudblood," came a voice from behind them. 

"She's not my friend and you shouldn't eavesdrop on people's conversations Malfoy," she spat. 

"And it's not right to talk about people behind their backs," he said coolly, "especially not you Granger, since you don't have the balls to say it to her face." Harry was reaching into his pocket to get his wand. "Don't bother Potter, I was just leaving. I've got someone that I must speak with." With that, Draco sped up and whispered something into Liliana's ear. He then turned around and pointed maliciously to Hermione. Liliana turned around as well and looked at Hermione confused. Draco patted her on the back in phony sympathy and left. She said something to Ron, smiled, and then followed Draco. 

"What did he say?" asked Hermione, as soon as Liliana was out of hearing range and she and Harry had caught up with Ron. 

"What did yousay?" asked Ron, a bit upset. "Because Draco told her that you said some nasty things about her and that you asked him to tell her for you. She went after him to find out what you said... Mione, she looked pissed off..." 

"I'm sorry..." said Hermione, speeding up to find Liliana. 

"What did she say?" Ron asked Harry, "Was it something really bad? Something that would make her not want to choose Gryffindor?" 

"That's a possibility," said Harry, "She was just talking about her being a gypsy or something like that... I wasn't really paying attention," he lied. 

Ron and Harry swore in unison as they turned the corner that Draco, Liliana, and Hermione had disappeared around. There was a crowd forming in front of Snape's classroom and the only one visible in it's center was Liliana. She looked livid and she had her wand pointed at someone. "Don't think I won't hex you..." she was saying.

A/N: I liked this chapter, I hope you did too... Please tell me if you did or didn't in a nice review... My other story is up by the way, it would be nice if you could read and review that too. Thanks... Oh and don't worry, I won't leave this as a cliffhanger for too long... 


	5. Talk of Marriage

A/N: Bear with me... 

Quote that describes my writing process: "Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard. Or take me back to the start" –Scientist by Coldplay 

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am writing this for my own amusement and am not being paid in any way. 

***Chapter Five***

"I'm all too serious," she was saying in response to someone that Ron and Harry couldn't hear or see. Her wand was still out, not wavering at all. Neither was her resolve. Her face was calm. Yet evident by the tone of her voice, she was not. 

"She's going to hurt her," said Harry in panic, as he grabbed Ron and ran over to the group. 

They both breathed heavy sighs of relief when they reached the circle. Liliana's wand was not pointed at Hermione, but instead at Draco Malfoy whose hand was in his pocket, obviously searching for his own wand. 

"What's the matter?" she asked, "Can't find your wand? I'll give you one minute, 'cause I'll have no problem hexing you with or without it." 

"What's going on?" asked Ron, of no one in particular.

Dean Thomas, who was standing nearby, leant over and explained. "I think he tried to kiss her or something... Well, he was just really close to her face. But when she pushed him away, he fell, and to save face he called her something nasty... so now she's threatening to kill him." 

"I think she's capable of it too..." muttered Harry. 

Ron pulled out his wand but kept it close to his side. He walked cautiously over to Liliana and said something in her ear. She laughed softly but shook her head. Ron said something else to her before walking back over to Harry. "She doesn't want any help."

"I don't think she needs any either," said Dean, shaking his head. 

"Time's up," she exclaimed. She dropped her wand and walked up to him. Draco smirked at her, thinking that he had the advantage now that she didn't have her wand. That was his first mistake; his second was his decision to provoke her. 

"What's the matter doll? Do you want a hug?" he asked, mockingly opening his arms. 

She walked right up to him and grabbed hold of his tie. "Silk?" she asked, twirling it around her fingers. 

"Only the best," he replied, putting his arms down. 

"How sweet," she smiled. She had his tie wound tightly around her fist now, and with one strong pull, he was in her face, struggling silently against her grip. "You know I could kill you right here, right now?" she asked, "But I don't think that Azkaban would suit me..." She kissed him softly on his nose before throwing fiercely him to the floor. He got up hastily; pushing away his fellow Slytherins who were trying to help him up. "It was just a kiss..." 

"Hold her," he instructed his cronies Crabbe and Blaise who were standing closest to Liliana. They each grabbed one of her arms and Draco strode up to her, "You know _I _could kill _you_ now..." 

"Maybe you could... and while I wouldn't fare well in Azkaban... you might, or at least you could get some advice from your father." She smiled dangerously, "Tell him I said hello, would you." 

Crabbe and Blaise dropped her and cackled as they disappeared back into the crowd. Draco grinned maniacally as he raised his wand to hex her. He had barely opened his mouth when a chorus of Gryffindor voices based by none other than Professor Snape yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Draco's wand flew promptly out of his hand as he was thrown into the stonewall behind him. 

"Get inside the classroom! All of you!" yelled Snape. Liliana got to her feet and Snape kicked her wand over to her. "You and you, in my office," he said, pointing to them. 

"Malfoy started it," a few brave Gryffindors yelled, as Snape, Draco, and Liliana went through the classroom and into Snape's office. 

"Is that true? Did you instigate a fight with a girl?" Snape asked, turning his back completely to Liliana once the door was closed. 

"I started it," said Liliana bluntly from behind him. 

Snape was shocked to say the least, "I don't believe you."

"Draco got in my face and I started the fight... that's what happened," she paused. "He needs to go to the hospital wing..."

Snape looked over to Draco, who was nursing a swollen wrist. "Get out of my sight! Both of you. I'll see you in detention tonight at 8 o' clock." He turned to Liliana, "and you, girl, I dare you to join my house. Go on and try," he sneered. 

"Where are we supposed to go?" drawled Draco. 

"You both need to go see Madam Pomfrey, I couldn't care less what you do afterward... I just don't want to see either one of you." Snape turned and walked out of his office. Draco followed him, with Liliana not too far behind. Before leaving the classroom, she looked over at Ron and offered a small smile that he returned with a thumbs-up. 

They walked to the hospital wing in silence. 

"It's locked," exclaimed Draco after jiggling the door handle with his good hand. 

"I can't imagine why," replied Liliana sarcastically, indicating the sign hung next to the door. 

"What does she mean she's 'out,' this is important," he said loudly, as though the intensity of his voice could change something. 

"Give me your hand." 

"You're kidding right?" 

"No. I'm not. Give me your hand or stay in pain." 

"It doesn't hurt." 

"I'm not blind, give me your hand." 

"And I'm not stupid. She'll be back in an hour, I can wait." 

"Fine. Do what you want," she said, sitting down on the opposite side of the door, under the sign. 

"I will." 

After a half hour of silence and excruciating pain, Draco spoke up. "Here," he said. "Do what you were going to do before." 

Liliana looked up and shook her head at him. "No."

"What do you mean 'no?'" he moved over to where she was sitting. "This hurts like hell and it's your fault. Is that what you want to hear?" 

"It's good enough," she said, getting up. She took his hand gently and turned it over. "Your hand's freezing." 

"So?" 

"Your circulation's poor. I wouldn't be surprised if Madam Pomfrey had to send you to St. Mungo's to cut it off."

"My hands are always cold." 

"So?" she rolled her eyes, "Where does it hurt? Be specific." He pointed to the left side of his right hand. "Right here?" she asked, pointing to the spot. He nodded. "It's broken." 

"Great... now fix it." 

"It's going to hurt," she warned.

"It can't hurt more than it already does."

"Trust me, it can, and it will... Osseous Repairum!" she exclaimed, with a great flourish of her wand. 

"That didn't hurt at all," he said, pulling his hand away and flexing his wrist. 

"Oops," she said. "And you're welcome." 

"Mmhmm," he responded. 

Liliana debated saying something about his disregard but opted for being the bigger person, "I'm sorry for saying what I said about your father, it wasn't my place. And it has nothing to do with you." 

"You should be... Oh. You're doing that apologizing thing aren't you?" he asked, noticing the expression on her face.

"Yeah, that apologizing thing."

"Well. O.K." 

She shook her head at him, but decided against saying anything else about it, "Where are you going now?"

"To the commons room. I have things to do." 

"Would you mind showing me where the owlery is?" 

He looked appraisingly at her before responding, "I've got some letters to send myself... so you can follow me." 

"Great," she said, rolling her eyes. 

"How much farther?" she asked once they began their ascent up the stairs that led to owlery.

"It's not too far. Do try and keep up though," he said, stopping to turn around and look at her. 

"What do you have against me?" she asked him. 

"Nothing really, other than the fact that a pure blood like you would choose to associate with Potter, Weasley, and Granger." 

"Is that why you decided to try and ruin my day?" 

"Not because of you exactly, just to get at Granger." 

"So I just kind of got in your way," she said cynically. 

"If you want to put it like that," he said, starting to climb again. 

"Well what do you have against muggle-borns?" 

"Don't tell me that you weren't taught about them; growing up in your family."

"How'd you know I was a pure blood?" 

"You're a gypsy right?" 

"Yes." 

"Well there you go." 

"I've heard about them before, but not too often." 

"Well whenever I'm around my family, that's all I hear about. And frankly, I agree with everything I've heard."

"Everything?" she asked, a bit out of breath, "what about arranged marriage? That's something that _I_'ve heard a lot about."

"I wouldn't be surprised if my mother was at home right now making a list of prospective girls. And I know you're lying if you say that no one's ever tried to set you up." 

"My grandmother has been setting me up on dates since I turned eleven. But my parent's would never allow an actual marriage." 

"Here we are," he said, reaching the landing. 

"Thanks," she said, walking over to the rows upon rows of owls. "Vodka," she called. After a brief ruffling of feathers, a silver and black owl landed on her shoulder.

"Vodka?" asked Draco incredulously. 

"I got him the night of my sixteenth birthday party," she said blushing. 

"But vodka?" he repeated, as an all black owl flew toward him. 

"I was a bit tipsy... and I've tried changing his name but he doesn't respond to anything else," she smiled, "what's your owl's name?"

"She doesn't have one. I haven't felt like making one up."

"That's sad," she said, picking a quill and a sheet of parchment up off a shelf.

"I suppose," he said, fastening his letters to the owl's leg. 

Liliana's lips were pursed in thought as she scribbled a few lines onto the paper. "Well I'll be going now," said Draco as his owl soared gracefully out of the window. "I trust you'll have no trouble finding your way." 

"None at all," she said, rolling up the parchment.

"I'll see you around then," he said awkwardly as he began his trip down the stairs. 

Liliana sent her owl off and reached inside her robes. She pulled out a small hourglass that hung on a chain around her neck. 

"You didn't expect me to let you remember that did you..." came Draco's voice from the stairwell. He reached the landing and gasped. It was too late for him to do anything now…  she had already set it. "Is that a Timeturner?" he asked as he saw her tucking it back under her robes. 

"It's a secret," she whispered as she disappeared. 

Draco pocketed his wand and swore... surely she would go back to her little friends and tell them that he had actually been civil toward her. This was the reason he never talked to strangers. 

A/N: One can only hope I won't have to take this back to the start... Toodle Loo! Oh yeah... but I'm still looking for some betas... 


	6. Hide & Black

A/N: You guys still here?? *Breaths sigh of relief*

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey, her family, and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. Just for fun. :-) 

***Chapter Six***

"I will ask you once more… What are the properties of powdered root of asphodel? This is a review question, and if I am forced to repeat myself I will not hesitate to take points away from both Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"Powdered asphodel root is responsible for…" began Hermione loudly. She had had her hand up since the moment Snape asked the question and he had purposely refused to call on her.

"I will not tolerate your sudden outbursts Miss. Granger! Five points from Gryffindor!"

Millicent Bulstrode scanned the pages of her textbook while Snape addressed Hermione and raised her hand. "Five points to Slytherin for that well thought out answer Miss. Bulstrode," he said proudly, after she'd recited what she read. 

Hermione mumbled under her breath from the time the three left the classroom to the time they reached the Gryffindor Commons room. At that point, she muttered something to the boys and ran up to her room. Liliana lay on her stomach in her bed, making use of several muggle devices to add color to her fingernails. 

"You know you could do so much faster with magic?" Hermione said quietly, as she threw her bag on the floor and flopped onto her bed.  

"I know," Liliana began without looking up, "but I find this really relaxing…" she glanced briefly at Hermione and smiled. 

Hermione didn't return the smile however; she simply sat up and spoke quietly,  "Look… whatever Malfoy said earlier… I apologize for it." 

"He didn't say anything."

"He didn't?" asked Hermione, trying her hardest to hide her relief.

"He was going to… but then he got other ideas I suppose." 

"What happened? I didn't see that part."

Liliana bit her lip. She had come close to telling Hermione that she seemed to have a strange habit of choosing what she saw to fit her mood, but Liliana knew that she was just trying to be kind. "You didn't?" was all that she finally managed to say. 

Hermione shook her head. 

"When he came over to Ron and I, he told me that you'd asked him to deliver a message to me. So I followed him to…Oops!" she exclaimed, as she knocked over a bottle of nail varnish. After a quick cleaning spell, she continued. "So I was saying that I didn't know him and if you had anything to say to me, you'd tell me yourself. That's when he got in my face… like he was going to whisper something, but I just repeated what I said and I pushed him away. He hadn't been expecting it, so he sort of tripped. And when he did he called me a… well… something pretty mean, and that's when the crowd formed." 

"Oh." 

"Yep," she said, holding her hand out in front of her to admire her work. "It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself." 

Hermione laughed. 

"I shouldn't have started anything though," she said suddenly. 

"Why not?" 

"I should have just let it pass. I have a horrible temper. And if you guys weren't there, and you didn't do the expelliarmus…" she trailed off.

"I doubt that Malfoy would've done anything too serious."

"I don't know. And besides, I haven't even been sorted and I've already got a detention."

"That's perfectly fine. You wouldn't believe how many detentions Ron, Harry, and I have racked up over the years," she said wistfully. "And you do know that Ron's not my boyfriend, right?" she added.

"No, I didn't know that," Liliana looked back to her nails, "but he's cute, don't tell me that you've never considered it," she finished playfully.

"When I look at Ron, it's hard to think attractive. I see him, and I think of a somewhat annoying brother." 

It was Liliana's turn to laugh. "What class do you have now?" 

Hermione thought for a moment, "Ancient Runes and Transfiguration…" 

"At the same time?" 

"Yes…" answered Hermione, a bit sheepishly. 

"Timeturner?" asked Liliana, as though it were the common solution. 

"How'd you know?"  asked Hermione, more shocked than anything else. 

"Just a lucky guess, which one are you going to first?" 

"I'll probably go with you and the boys to Transfiguration. And speaking of Ron and Harry, they'll probably want a full account of everything that happened in the dungeons."

"Hold on then," said Liliana, as she carefully picked up her wand and performed a drying spell. 

*~*~*

Transfiguration passed rather uneventfully. The students were supposed to be reviewing the chapter on beginner's human Transfiguration while Professor McGonagall gave pairs practical quizzes in her office. 

Halfway into class, Parvati Patil, who had been reciting noisily the whole time, inadvertently said an incantation while waving her wand. Thereby causing Ron to grow a rat's tail and whiskers. What was funniest though, was when Ron got up and turned to face Parvati, accidentally swinging his tail 'round, knocking Liliana clean off her chair and to the ground. 

"Are you alright?" asked Ron of Liliana for what seemed like the hundredth time after class.     

"Ron, I'm fine, my bum's a bit sore from the fall… but I'm fine. How are you?"

"Same. My bum is throbbing and my face still itches," he laughed, rubbing his cheeks where the whiskers had been minutes earlier.

"Sorry Ron," said Parvati quietly from behind him, where she had arrived seconds earlier. "I just wanted to apologize again," she said, touching his face gently. "And I wanted to let you know that McGonagall only took away five points. But she gave five back because Hermione knew the reversal spell. Well. Er, I have to go, but I'll see you later?" she asked awkwardly. 

"Sure, I mean, I guess," said Ron, as Parvati touched his shoulder, smiling before turning back to her friends. 

"I'd say that she fancies you Ron," said Harry casually, as the three made their way to the Great Hall. 

"You think so?" he asked. 

"I agree Ron, and I don't even know her," added Liliana teasingly. 

"Are you sitting with us for dinner?" asked Ron, as they entered the Great Hall.

"I guess it wouldn't kill me," she smirked. 

"If you're lucky," remarked Harry lightly. 

"Alright then," she said cautiously.

"I'm only playing," he said, but it didn't seem like he really meant it.

"What's Ancient Runes like, Hermione?" asked Liliana during dinner, once the latter had met up with them after her class. 

"It's quite interesting really," she said, before launching into a full account of everything that they'd covered in class that day.

"Thanks," said Liliana, after Hermione had finished.

"Thanks for what?" she quest. 

"Thanks for reminding me why I didn't take that class," she laughed. 

  
Hermione, however, saw this as an opportunity for her to explain all the positives about the class. She didn't stop until they reached the Commons Room and Ron raised his hand. "Excuse me Miss.," he said. 

"Oh. Sorry Ron, I didn't realise how much I was talking…" she blushed. 

"I just wondering, Liliana, where are you going to sleep?" 

"Dumbledore already has a bed up there for her," answered Hermione with a wave of her hand.  

"Yeah, but I don't really want to think about sleep now. I've got an hour to kill before I go to detention, and I want to enjoy it."

"That's true, so, do you play Wizard's Chess?" asked Ron. 

"No."

"Exploding snap?" ventured Harry.

"Nope, sorry."

"Then what do you do?" 

"Hold on. I've got this thing. I don't know if you'll want to play it or not, but my sister and I do all the time." 

"What is it?" asked Hermione. 

"It's in my bag. Come with me?" asked Liliana, excited by the prospect of sharing her game with them. She and Hermione came down the staircase after a few minutes. When they reached the couches where the boys, with the addition of Neville Longbottom sat, Liliana held out a small, orange, velvet satchel. 

"The concept is quite simple. You reach your hand into the bag and an object will appear. Once you pull it out, you'll be the only one able to see it. You have to make everyone else guess what it is you've got. And you have two minutes. Oh, and you can't use obvious words… like if it's a ball, you can't say round, bouncy, things like that, or, well, I'll explain what happens if it happens," when she finished, she passed the bag to Neville and sat down. "Go first." 

Neville reached into the bag, felt around for a bit, and then pulled his hand out. His fingers were curled around something, but apparently only he could see it. 

"It's something we use everyday," he said. 

"A wand?" guessed Hermione. 

"No. It's something you drink from, in the Great Hall…" slowly a goblet began to materialize in Neville's hand. 

"You shouldn't have said that," warned Liliana. 

"Why not?" 

"Go on and try to put the goblet down," she dared. 

Neville began to panic as he tried to shake it off of his hand. He yelled a bit when he realised that it was stuck there. "How do I get it off?" 

"You've got to make us guess another one."

Thirty minutes and five objects later, Neville had managed to get a bowler hat, a spoon, a picture frame, a chicken leg, and a quill all stuck to him. Between fits of laughter, Liliana excused herself for detention. 

"Wait, Liliana," called Neville as she made for the portrait hole, "what happens if I never make them guess one?" 

"Honestly, I don't know. They'll probably fall off eventually," she shook her head in faux sympathy at him and left.

~*~*~

 It was bitterly cold in the dungeons. Liliana folded her arms and sighed, she should have brought her heavy cloak. 

"Cold?" called a voice from behind her. Draco Malfoy was walking briskly toward her, no doubt headed for detention as well. 

"Just a little," she said sarcastically.

"Well now you know to bring a cloak when you're down here the next time, which will be sometime tomorrow, correct?"

"Yeah."

Draco smirked as he walked alongside her and pulled his cloak tighter around himself. Liliana was sure that she heard him say something about being toasty. "Where'd you get that cloak?" she asked after a few moments. 

"It's by Hide & Black," he said nonchalantly, as though owning a cloak by such an expensive designer were commonplace. 

"I thought so, I have the same one," she said, erasing the smug look on Draco's face.

"I doubt it's the exact one," he mused, showing her his initials embroidered elaborately just below his left breast.

"You're right," she said smiling, "mine says Liliana on it."

"It's a shame you don't have it then."

"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" she asked later. 

"I think you should be."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

He stopped to look at her. He chuckled emotionlessly before meeting her hand with his own. "The pleasure's all mine."

When they reached Snape's door, Liliana began to knock, but Draco just smirked and pushed it open. 

"With seconds to spare," scoffed Snape when they walked in. "Since you missed class today, I think it best that you help me grade the concoctions that your classmates brewed. Draco, you will be testing the Slytherin potions, and you," he said, pointing to Liliana, "can test the Gryffindor's." 

"My name is Liliana, thought you might want to know," she said, looking Snape in the eye. 

"Sit." She and Draco obeyed. "These potions are supposed to change the color of one's eyes, but some of them," he said, casting a glance at a sickeningly orange one, "well, I am not sure what they'll do."  He pushed the orange one at Liliana, "Ronald Weasley." 

She took the stopper off of the vile and poured some of the liquid into the goblet that Snape had provided. She closed her eyes and drank it. It was awful. She pulled a face as it hit her stomach. 

"Pitiful," said Snape as he scribbled something down on a piece of parchment. 

"What did it do?" she asked. Draco conjured a mirror and gave it to her. It took all of her dignity to stop her from screaming when she saw her reflection. Her nose had turned bright red and her eyebrows were gone.     
  


"Eat one of these after each potion," he said, sliding a plate of biscuits over to her. "I have other things to do, so as you test each one, be sure to record the effects and the name of the person responsible for the atrocity." With that, he stood and left.

"He can't make us do this can he?" asked Liliana as she bit into the biscuit. 

"Yes, he can. But this isn't too bad compared to some of the stuff that they make us do here." 

"That's just great. But couldn't we just make up the results?"

"No. He'd know the difference. So I suggest you get to it." 

She sighed as she pulled a teal potion over to her and uncapped it. 

"You might want to clean out your goblet before you pour anything else in there. You do know how don't you?" 

"Yes," she said, taking her wand out. 

Draco conjured a mirror for himself and poured a normal looking potion into his cup. He looked at his mirror and scoffed, "brown." 

After a few more potions, Liliana's eyes had been black, blue, and yellow. She had also developed freckles that wouldn't go away even after she'd eaten three biscuits. In an hour, she'd finished all of the Gryffindor potions. She turned to Draco who was busy staring at his reflection. 

"What's the matter?" 

"None of your business." 

"Ha!" she exclaimed when he put down the mirror. "That's pathetic." Draco's once silvery eyes were now an ugly greenish brown. 

"Shut up," he snapped. "Do you think those freckles do anything for you?" 

"I'll figure out what to do with them in the morning. I can't be bothered now," she said, stifling a yawn. 

"You know, this is your fault."

"It's always my fault."

"No really. This is your fault." 

"How is that?" 

"It is. You know it is."

"What are you going to do about it?" He didn't respond. "Are we supposed to wait for him to get back?" 

"No."

"How do you know?" 

"Look," he said, pointing to two slips of paper on Snape's desk. 

"Oh," she said, grabbing one of the notes and walking out. "Goodbye then." 

"Do try and keep warm," he said mockingly, as he closed the door behind him. 

*The End Of Chapter Six*

A/N: Good? I hope so. Stay tuned for Chapter Seven, it should be up soon, it's somewhat done.  


	7. Quidditch Weekly

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. This is just for fun. :-) 

***Chapter Seven***

Harry lay on his four-poster with the curtains drawn and his eyes firmly shut. "Why am I even here?" he asked himself. It was a question that he'd been exploring the answer to for quite some time. He opened his eyes and allowed himself to daydream. His mind took him back to Privet Drive where he had spent the entire summer. No visits from the Weasleys, no dementors, no invitations to the Burrow or to Grimmauld Place, nothing. He wasn't bitter though, he couldn't be. It would drive him insane. His thoughts led him into Dudley's old bedroom where Harry lay on that bed exactly as he lay his own now. In his hand he held a shining blade. It was nothing in comparison to the knife that Sirius had given him last year, the one that had melted, the one that he lost at the same time that he lost Sirius. No, it wasn't that knife, but it was beautiful, and sharp. Harry grinned vaguely as he ran his thumb up and down the blade. He remembered the look on Dudley's face when he had forced himself into the room and saw him; it was priceless. "What are you doing?" he had asked stuttering, "going to kill yourself? Go on, do it!" he provoked. "Do us all a favor!" Dudley's voice trembled as he turned and fled down the stairs. Harry of course wasn't serious about suicide then, but Dudley had started him thinking... 

The creak of the dormitory door opening brought Harry back to his senses and he put the blade back under the mattress where he kept it. 

"Harry," called Ron, and footsteps behind him told Harry that Ron wasn't alone. Perhaps he had dragged Herm and Liliana along. Harry didn't necessarily like the latter, but he feigned civility for Ron's sake. He was faking a lot these days. He silently rumpled his clothes and his bed sheets to make it appear that he had been sleeping. He reached up to dishevel his hair but was promptly reminded that there wasn't much hair left to unsettle. He had chopped it off over the summer in a fit of rebellion against, well, everything... his father in particular. His hair was dreadfully short now, but it was still unruly. 

"In here," he responded, trying to make his voice sound sleepy. 

"Some people have all the luck..." Ron sighed as he pulled open the curtains. Harry blinked furiously, it had been dark as night in his little sanctuary, but he forced a smile. 

"How was Divination?" he asked, sitting up. He had been right about the girls, Herm was standing close to Ron, and Liliana was stationed by the door, looking around. Harry noticed that there was something different about her. She had freckles. Harry smiled inwardly, it gave her an earthy sort of appearance. Now in plaited pigtails, the Hogwart's school uniform, and freckles, Liliana looked sort of like a black haired Ginny. Harry wondered Ron would make of that. 

"You'll never guess who she picked though!" exclaimed Ron breathlessly. 

Harry hadn't noticed that Ron had been talking to him. "What are you talking about?" he asked carelessly. Ron was momentarily put off, but attributed Harry's disposition to the fact that he had just woken up.

"Lily!" 

"Lily? Who, _her_?" Harry asked, involuntarily wincing at the sound of his mother's name. 

"Trelawney's decided that she's going to die a horrid death this year!" shouted Ron. 

Harry smirked slightly and spoke sarcastically, "My heart goes out to you." He diverted his attention to Liliana who was now sitting on Ron's bed, her mouth open in a yawn. 

"Why?" she asked.

"Because the bat's been planning my death for about three years now. I know what it's like." 

"Trelawney definitely doesn't like her..." said Ron dejectedly. He obviously hoped that everyone would like Liliana as much as he did. 

"I can't imagine why," Harry muttered under his breath. 

"I'm not too sure what you meant by that..." she began slowly, as Harry scolded himself, he hadn't meant to say that aloud. "But I couldn't care less what she thinks of me..." 

"Yes, but tell him what started it" said Hermione. Harry's eyes brightened at the thought of someone telling Trelawney off. "Go on... tell him what happened." 

Liliana sighed. "It's not that important," she looked to Harry, "and I'm sure that Harry doesn't feel like hearing about it either..." 

"Would someone just tell me already?" he asked, now genuinely interested.

"Fine," she started, "I asked her why she thought it necessary to fill the classroom with cerractus leaf vapors. So she called me a 'silly little girl' and I called her fraud. Then she threatened to tell Dumbledore." 

"What did you do then?" asked Harry. 

"I left. I had better things to do," she responded. 

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione. "When class was over, Ron and I saw you sitting on the floor by the ladder reading. Where did you go?" 

"Later..." said Lily quietly to Hermione. 

"What's so special about cerractus leaves?" asked Harry. 

"Fake Seers fill rooms with the vapors from the leaves to slur their victim's senses and make them believe whatever they're told... but when it's not done properly it just makes people drowsy and apathetic." 

"That explains a lot," said Harry as he got off of his bed, "are you going to go back?" He glanced at Hermione. She had quit Divination in their fourth year but had returned after a one-year sabbatical, "for the pure sake of knowledge."

"Yeah, I'm going to go back. I'm really interested in that sort of stuff."

"Oh." 

"How's Neville doing?" she asked, because by the time she'd gotten back to the Commons Room last night, everyone had already gone to bed. 

"He got them all off after a few tries." 

"That's good."

"Yeah." 

Everyone stood around for a few tense moments. 

"So," said Hermione, "what do we do now? We've got a few minutes until our next class." No one had the chance to respond however, because a tapping on the window interrupted them. 

"That's my owl," said Liliana, as she rushed over to the window. She kneeled to open it and Vodka flew around the room, taking in his surroundings. He hooted a few times before landing on Liliana's outstretched arm. 

"Thanks," she said, as she relieved him of his load. "I don't have anything to give you now, sorry." The owl nipped her finger hungrily before flying off. 

"What's that?" asked Hermione. 

"It's a part of the paper," she said, sitting back down on Ron's bed. "My grandmother sent it," she added, noting writing on the page scribbled in her grandmother's signature yellow ink. 

"What's it about?" asked Hermione, as she went to sit next to her. 

"It's the missing persons section. We've been following it for a while now, since July or something. We thought this had all stopped in late August, but more girls have gone missing and this time they were all pure bloods. This one is here is my cousin..." she said, pointing to one of the glum looking girls in the pictures. 

"Thought what had all stopped?" asked Harry.

"It's just that we think that there might be something organized to it all... I don't know. Maybe it's because we had nothing to do all summer, and looking through the paper was about the only time my grandmother and I really spent together," she said, the last part more to herself than to the others. 

"Oh." 

"Yeah. But I mean... it could be totally random," she shrugged, "what do _I_ know?" 

"You know," ventured Ron, "I heard my Mum and my brother Charlie talking about it once or twice. Didn't they all turn up dead?"

Liliana nodded. "Not of all them, but a few did show up dead on their parent's doorsteps. The Ministry thought that it would be over when school started but," she trailed off, looking back to the paper. 

"There's a letter," said Hermione, picking up another piece of parchment from the floor. 

Liliana rolled her eyes and sighed deeply after reading the letter. "My grandmother wants me to be careful, she says not to leave Hogwarts for any reason. Yeah, right."

"Why would you leave Hogwarts?" asked Ron. 

"Later. But this is ridiculous. She wants me to fast for my cousin to come home safely."

"Fast?" asked Harry incredulously.

"Yeah." 

"It's a gypsy tradition isn't it?" asked Hermione. 

"Yeah, but is it honestly that obvious that I'm a gypsy? 

"To me anyway," said Hermione. 

"Books?" 

"Yeah, I read a lot." 

"I figured that. Yeah, well it's a tradition, you fast from food and magic for a while. But how does she expect me to do that here, at school?" 

"You could talk to Dumbledore, if you really wanted to do it," suggested Hermione. 

"But I don't want to. It's not going to help any. Besides, I hate that girl, she's a, well a, hussy, to put it lightly." 

"Oh," said Harry, Hermione, and Ron in perfect unison. 

"Yeah, but we've got class now." 

"And your owl is back," said Harry. 

"From your grandmother?" asked Hermione, as Liliana's face fell. 

She put the parchment down and shook her head in disbelief. "It's from Professor Snape! I've got another detention!" 

"For what?" 

"I don't know. It doesn't say. This is just perfect." 

*~*~*

Draco Malfoy sat in the conveniently empty Slytherin Commons room, writing a letter. 

"Father, I received your latest letter, and if the task is ready, I am. Let me know at your earliest convenience what it is so that I can get started on it. Christmas break would probably be the best opportunity for me to do what we've previously discussed, and I want to make sure that I'm ready. - Draco" 

"It doesn't sound too desperate does it?" he asked, reading his writing to Blaise, who stood watch in front of the portrait hole. 

"No. But why did you take out the part about me getting it in December?" he asked, smirking. 

"I don't want it to sound too whiny. I want him to take it seriously," responded Draco, missing the playful nature of the question. He sealed the letter with a wax seal and several charms before carefully putting it in his pocket. "Ready?" he asked, standing up to leave. 

"Don't bother," said Blaise. "Your owl is here."

Draco strode lazily over to magically placed window and let the owl in. It landed obediently on Draco's arm and failed to hoot at all, not in affection or disdain. Draco took the parchment off of its leg and attached the letter that he had just written. "Take this to my mother." 

"Haven't named it yet?" asked Blaise.

"No." 

"Who's the letter from?"

"I don't know. It's got the Hogwarts seal on it though." 

"Open it then." 

Draco shrugged before opening and reading his mail. "Did we do anything that we weren't supposed to do recently?" he asked. 

"Besides the letter that you just sent, I could list quite a few," answered Blaise devilishly, "Why?" 

"I've got another detention tonight."

"I should be getting my invitation anytime then." 

"Yeah." 

"How was it with that Grey girl last night?" 

"It was detention. I told you how Snape had us doing slave labor didn't I?"

"Yes you did, but what do you think of the girl?" 

"I think she's a pain in the arse." 

"Why's that?" 

He shrugged again. 

"Think she'll choose Slytherin?" 

"I don't care. It'd be a waste if she didn't though." 

"Why's that?" asked Blaise, lowering his voice as someone came into the room. 

"Her family is gypsy." 

"So?" 

"Do you read anything but Quidditch Weekly?" asked Draco, looking at the Slytherin girl slyly as she sat down and opened one of her books. 

"What about it?" 

"Gypsies are the purest of the pure bloods. _You _should know that," he answered, now making eye contact with the girl as she smiled coyly at him. "Save a seat for me in class would you, I've got something to do," he added, walking over to the girl. 

A/N: I personally liked this chapter, I may be a little biased though. It's EXTREMELY useful to the plot, so I hope you read it carefully... Oh well. You know what's funny though, I wrote the beginning of this chapter a LOOOONG time ago, and in the PoA trailer, Daniel has a new haircut... SPOOKY! Hope you liked it. And I hope you find the time to review too *hint hint* 


	8. The Mark

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. This is just for fun. :-)

*Chapter Eight*

"I've got dinner with the Slytherins," said Liliana, as she made her way to the Great Hall after Potions. 

"Sounds like fun," said Dean Thomas, running to catch up with her, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

"Hey Dean, I think we did really well on our potion just now, high five," she said, slapping Dean's palm with her own. 

"Maybe Snape'll use it to de-grease his hair," he joked. 

"We can only hope," said Ron, "but I don't think that Harry and I did too well. Our degreaser is bound to put more grease in than it'll take out." 

"But if Hermione had helped us," started Harry, throwing a sidelong glance to her. 

"It's not my fault that Snape made me work with Parvati." 

"I think it's best that you did Herm. It was _her _potion that gave me the freckles," laughed Liliana. 

"What're you talking about?" asked Dean. 

"I had detention last night and Snape made me test all of the Gryffindor potions," she pulled a face, "there were a lot of side effects, and hers gave me freckles." 

"But weren't they supposed to change your eye color?" 

"Exactly." 

"That's definitely a problem. Well I'll see you all at later. I'm headed up to the Commons room." 

"I'll come with you," she said, "I've got to grab my cloak before the elves move my stuff."

 "Alright milady," he said as he extended his arm. She received it elegantly and blew exaggerated kisses to her friends. 

"Are you going back down to dinner?" she asked.  

"I don't know. I was going to get started on the foot-long parchment that I was supposed to give Binns today, but…" he trailed off, turning to see her reaction. 

"Great choice, food should always come before education," she laughed.

"Remind me again, why do you need your cloak?" he asked once they were climbing back out of the portrait hole.  

"I'm staying with the Slytherins now," she began, taking Dean's arm again, "and I've learned from experience that the dungeons are cold as hell." 

"Hell isn't all that cold," he said seriously. 

She laughed again. "All right, the dungeons are as cold as hell is hot…" she grinned smugly at him.  

"This is some cloak," he said, once they were making their way down the stairs and back to the Great Hall.

"It was a birthday present from my uncle this year," she said, taking it back from him.  

"Oi, Dean," called Colin Creevey, running down the stairs behind them. 

"Hullo Colin."

"Hi Colin," she said, nodding in his direction. 

"Can I ask a favor?" he stammered, looking from Liliana to Dean. They nodded. "I was wondering if I could take a picture of you for the paper."

"What paper Colin?" asked Dean skeptically. 

"My brother Dennis and I are trying to get one started here this year," he said, beaming proudly. "Well, can I have the shot?"

"Why not?" asked Liliana as she hung her arm around Dean's neck. He grinned as he draped his arm casually around her hip.  

"Thanks a lot," squeaked Colin after he took the shots. "I'll send you each a print once I develop these." With a final "thanks," he literally jumped down the rest of the stairs. 

"You're a bold kid Dean," said Liliana, tapping his hand that still gripped her hip. 

"My girlfriend tells me that all the time," he said, taking his hand away. 

"Your girlfriend? You're kidding right?" she asked, none too sure herself. 

"Don't worry, I'm not serious," he laughed. "But you can never be too sure. Last year it turned out that I had a girlfriend all along and I didn't know it until she broke up with me. Good times, good times," he said, teasing her. Liliana just laughed and shook her head. 

"It's six o' clock, I'm officially a Slytherin," she said, absentmindedly toying with her house badge, watching it change from the Gryffindor crest to that of the Slytherins. "There's my table," she said solemnly, looking to the Slytherin table.  

"Sorry, guess I can't talk to you anymore," he said finally, flashing her a huge smile before walking over to madly waving Ron. 

Liliana went over to the Slytherin table and sat next to two harmless looking blonde girls that she recognized from her Potions and Transfiguration classes. She performed a shrinking charm on her cloak and tucked it into her pocket.

"Pansy Parkinson," said the smallest of the girls, without even turning to look at Liliana. 

"Hullo Pansy, I'm…" she began. 

"You're Liliana Grey, we knowwho you are. I'm Alison Parker," said the larger girl. 

"Millicent Bulstrode," said an even larger brown haired girl as she sat down uncomfortably close to Liliana. 

"Did you like the other houses," asked Pansy, almost daring Liliana to say yes. 

"Yeah, I did." 

"That's nice," she said, reaching for the pitcher of pumpkin juice. 

"Before you begin eating," came Dumbledore's voice from the doors, "I have a few last minute announcements." He walked quickly up to the teacher's table before continuing. "The first trip to Hogsmeade will be the weekend of October the eighteenth. That is about six weeks from now, but I've been assured that the students like having something to look forward to. On a second, and more saddening note, Professor Severus Snape will be away this weekend and the greater part of next week. Therefore, his classes will be canceled until further notice." The Gryffindors let out a collective whoop of applause. For them, Snape being out _was _good news. 

"I wonder what's going on," said Pansy, thinking out loud. 

"I'll tell you lot what's going on," said Blaise quietly, as he sat down across from the girls. 

"Hold your tongue Zabini," said Draco sharply from behind him. "There are those at this table that cannot yet be trusted." 

"Who?" asked Blaise, looking menacingly at Liliana, "our little friend from yesterday? She wouldn't say anything, would you little girl?" 

"I'm not a little girl. And what could you possibly have to say that would be that important?" 

"Relax," cooed Draco, filling his goblet with water. "Remember what that old crackpot said at the start of term feast, 'house unity,' we mustn't fight." Blaise cocked an eyebrow at him and Draco cleared his throat, "as I was saying, we mustn't fight with each other. Because it's so much more fun to fight with everyone else."

Liliana rolled her eyes, "whatever." 

"Yeah, that's exactly how it works here. Whatever _I _say," he said finally, before switching the subject to Quidditch. 

"What kind of broom d'you have?" asked Blaise, through a mouthful of mashed potatoes and leeks. 

"A Firebolt," she answered, spreading butter on her potatoes. 

"D'you fly?" 

"Did you not hear me? I have a Firebolt. Why wouldn't I fly?" she asked. 

"What Blaise here wants to say is, do you fly _well_?" interjected Draco, sipping his water carefully. 

"Better than some." 

"Meaning?" asked Pansy. 

"I fly well," she said, turning to face the other girl in exasperation. 

"Which house are you choosing?" asked Millicent from her other side. 

"I don't know yet." 

"Draco was telling me earlier how it'd be a waste, ow!" began Blaise. 

"What?" asked Liliana. 

"Nothing," finished Draco placidly.

"Oh come off it Draco, just tell us," pleaded Millicent.

Draco looked up from his goblet and gave Millicent the finger. He then looked to Liliana as if to ask, "you next?" 

"What kind of chicken is this?" she asked later, pointing to the half eaten leg on her plate. 

"I don't know, onion and garlic something," said Draco lazily, sniffing the air.  

"There are tomatoes in it too," said Blaise, through a mouthful of the very chicken.

"Why?" asked Alison. 

"No reason, excuse me," said Liliana, getting up quickly. She seized her twitching fingers and tried to ignore the snickers following her out of the Great Hall.

"What's the matter?" asked Dean, jogging slightly to keep up with her. "I saw you leave the Slytherins, I thought they'd jinxed you." 

"I'm allergic to tomatoes," she answered sheepishly. 

"Then why are you headed to the Commons Room?" Liliana turned and looked at him, obviously confused. "The hospital wing is in the other direction, do you want me to come with you?" 

"Yeah. Thanks," she said, turning to follow him and shaking her head at her own blunder. 

"Tomatoes eh?" 

"Yeah. It's a stupid gypsy thing. Everyone in my family is allergic… deathly allergic, did I mention that?" she asked, her right hand shaking ferociously. 

"No, but keep talking. Why are you all allergic?" 

"In early some-teenth century France, everyone believed that tomatoes were the food of the devil. Thought that if you ate them you'd die. Eventually people realised that that wasn't the case, but the gypsies never ate them. Too superstitious. Now, whenever anyone in my family eats them, this happens… It's really cold. Did I mention that as well?" 

"Then put your cloak on… where is it?" 

"My pocket." Dean took her cloak out of her pocket and reversed the shrinking charm. He helped her into it and then held her close while they walked. 

"Do you see the humour in this? Or is it just me?" 

"I think it's quite funny. Just the fact that I could be dying sort of scares me."

"Understandable." 

"Yeah, I'm really…" she couldn't finish her sentence however, because she collapsed in Dean's arms. 

"What happened?" screeched Madam Pomfrey, as Dean came into the room, carrying a limp Liliana. 

"She's allergic to tomatoes, deathly so," he said casually. 

"That all?" she asked, standing up from behind her desk. "Set her down on one of those beds then." Dean did as he was told. "When did she lose consciousness?" 

"One the way down here, not too long ago." 

"Wait here, call me if she moves," she said, walking off to one of her large medicine cabinets. She came back holding an extremely large pill. 

"What are you going to do with that?" exclaimed Dean once she returned. 

Madam Pomfrey broke the pill in halves and poured all of the powdery substance that it contained into one half. "Hold her nose so she'll open her mouth, then tilt her head back," she instructed. 

"She's got really smooth skin, you know," he noted, feeling it under his fingertips. 

The older witch just tutted in disapproval. She poured the glittering powder into Liliana's mouth and sat back expectantly, Dean did the same. Liliana sat up quickly, coughing, the sparkling dust coming out in clouds. 

"Did you know that you were allergic to tomatoes the whole time?" asked Madam Pomfrey impatiently. 

"MmmHmm," she answered, once she'd finished coughing. 

"Then why would you eat the chicken? It was clearly basted in a tomato paste!" 

"I don't know. I just wasn't thinking."

"Wasn't thinking is right, you silly girl," she said, going back to her desk to retrieve something. 

"What's she on about?" whispered Dean. Liliana shrugged. 

"_You_ can go," said Madam Pomfrey, tapping Dean sharply on the shoulder. He looked hesitantly at Liliana but acquiesced. "And you," she began, "are going to tell me all about your other medical issues, your file is empty!" she exclaimed, showing Liliana the blank piece of parchment with her name at the top. After half an hour of reliving every medical mishap and malady that she had ever encountered, Madam Pomfrey let her go. "And if I were you, I'd thank the young man that was in here earlier. You're not as light as a feather you know." Liliana was a bit taken aback but nodded. 

"Thanks, I'll be sure to do that," she mumbled as she left. 

*~*~*

"You're not Blaise," said Draco loudly. He had been waiting at the base of the staircase that led to the dungeons. He'd stayed coiled in his position, waiting until he heard single footsteps. They were his signal to strike. He had shot out from his hiding place and wrapped his arm around his victim's neck. He now stood behind them, arm still in a death hold, his wand to their temple. 

"The hell I'm not!" she exclaimed. 

"It's you again," he declared, once he had produced an eerie green light from the tip of his wand. He thought he'd seen a flicker of fear in her eyes, or perhaps it was a reaction to the light in her face. "What's the matter little girl? Are you scared?" 

"Of you?" she asked, silently struggling with his arm on her neck. 

"What are you doing down here?" 

"I have detention, again," she snapped, swinging her hair back sharply so that it hit him in the face. She took the opportunity when he reacted to break away from him. "Honestly Malfoy what is your problem?" Her voice was low yet dangerous once again. "You cannot _do _that! Lurking in dark corners, waiting for people to come down the steps so that you can try and scare them to death." 

"I thought you were Blaise," he said, not a single trace of apology in his voice. 

"Well look at me!" she exclaimed, spinning around, "I'm not your little friend. Now if you'll excuse me." 

"I'm coming with you." 

"Why?" 

"I have detention again too." 

"Liar," she spat, speeding up her pace. 

"I do. I was waiting for Blaise to come down so we could go together. You'll do though."

"Gee thanks," she said, pushing open Snape's door. His classroom was surprisingly bright and full of students. 

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss. Grey," he said icily. 

"Professor," began Liliana, "why do I have another detention? Did I do something else?" she asked bitterly. 

"The two of you left detention last night without my permission. You also stole some parchment that I had lying on my desk." At the mention of the parchment, Liliana sighed and glared at Draco. "Are you aware that this constitutes a violation of my privacy? That violation warrants another detention here tonight." 

"What do we have to do?" asked Draco, who seemed an expert at detention policy. 

"Come with me," commanded Snape, leading them over to a group of surly looking seventh year Slytherin girls. "You can use one of these students for your testing. Take your pick," he said, looking from Draco to Liliana. 

"We need a girl," said the one closest to the cauldron. 

"Wait, are you a virgin?" asked another, quite loudly. 

"What?" asked Liliana indignantly. 

"Answer the question girl," barked Snape, a tiny curl playing at the corners of his lips. Liliana looked from Draco's obnoxious smirk to the expectant expressions on the faces of the girls. 

"Yes." 

"Then Draco'll have to do," replied the same girl brusquely, grabbing Draco by the arm. 

"Alright," mused Snape, "that's it for the Lust Brew, and none of the other groups need a test subject, so you can help me." He led Liliana over to a wall at the back of the classroom that sported shelves upon shelves of jars containing Merlin knows what. "Clean them. You may use magic if you must, but you then have to label them, by hand. There are some rather old markings on the bottom of each that'll tell you what they contain. After that, you put them in alphabetical order, in subcategories of their expiration dates. Enjoy," he said finally, turning to help one of his precious Slytherins along with their potion.  

Liliana and Draco had both finished their tasks at least a half hour ago. The classroom was empty and they were waiting for Snape to return. Liliana lay on her back on one of the benches. Her knees were bent and her arms folded beneath her head. Draco slouched in a single armchair by the door; he seemed ready to leap out of it at a moments notice. Liliana focused on the ceiling, her mind wandering. She thought about everything. From the simple fact that she was at Hogwarts, to the fact that she had no idea where her parents were, or how her little sister was at the moment; to the fact that she had actually felt happy today. She thought about Ron, and how kind he was, and Dean, and how kind _he_ was, and Draco. He was such a prat. A wally, her sister would call him. She opened her eyes and nearly jumped out of her skin. Draco was hovering above her. She sat up immediately and ran a hand through her hair. "What do you want now?" 

"This too is your fault."

"I don't feel like listening to this," she said, swinging her feet off the bench. 

"Oh, but you must. I have no one else to talk to, so you will have to listen." He took the removal of her feet as an invitation to sit down and did so. "This is your fault," she rolled her eyes, "if you hadn't been hanging out with that Mudblood Granger, I wouldn't have had to bother you and this never would have happened. So there."

Liliana eyed him in sickened amazement. "You're kidding right?" He shook his head. 

"Have fun cleaning the shit in the jars?" he asked a few minutes later. 

"Oh yes. I had a jolly good time," she said sarcastically. "What did those girls have you doing?" 

"I had to test out their lust potion. Honestly, that's such a waste. They're in Advanced Potions and they're doing lust brews for their independent study." 

"What would you do then?" 

"I don't know. Something better than that for sure, the damn thing has yet to work."  

"Look. Do they really have us do this sort of work every time we get detention?" 

"Yes, and I believe that we've discussed this already."

"Wait until my parent's hear about this," she mused. 

"Won't do you any good. I've tried, Dumbledore always finds a way around it," he almost laughed at her, "the whole point of detention is to make you want to stay out of trouble." 

"Doesn't seem to work on you, now does it?"

"No. And I've done worse." 

Just then Snape barged in. His face was deathly pale and drenched in sweat. His eyes were blood shot and pained. His hand clutched his upper arm as though it would fall off and when he noticed Draco and Liliana, his first reaction was almost shame. That changed to annoyance immediately, and he raised one pale finger and pointed to the door. "Go," he ordered hoarsely, and they left. 

Liliana let out a loud breath that she had been holding since the moment the door had opened. She leant against one of the dungeon walls and allowed herself to slide down into a sitting position. Her face was nearly as pale as Snape's when she exclaimed, "oh my God."

"That was the Dark Mark he was holding you know," jeered Draco, seeing the fear on Liliana's face. 

"I know that." 

"Want to know why he was holding it?" he teased, getting pleasure out of the fact that she was scared for once. 

"Would you just shut up?" she asked, standing up. She began walking again, quite quickly considering that she didn't know where she was going. 

"Stop," called Draco. Liliana looked back at him. The smirk was gone from Draco's face, and had been replaced by a lopsided grin and a twinkle in his eye. He walked slowly up to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked. He had put his hands on her shoulders was steering her back to the dungeon wall. He mumbled something incoherent and proceeded to pick up a lock of her hair. "What are you doing?" she asked again, a little confused yet amused at the same time. He wrapped his fingers around the strand before pressing his lips roughly to hers. 

Liliana's mind started racing. "What should I do?" she thought. 

"There's a handsome bloke hanging onto your lips, and you're asking me to tell you what to do?" responded her conscience, the once dormant voice in her head. 

"Well, yes."

"Kiss him back! Honestly, you'll drink a few pints of Vodka without once talking to me about it, but _now _of all times you don't know what to do?"   

So she returned the kiss. Almost immediately she felt his hand on the small of her back and couldn't help but return the gesture. There was a sort of punch drunkenness to the kiss. It was as though they had both gone temporarily insane, but it was welcome. Even the smooth kisses that Draco planted on her neck were welcome, but a noise from down the hallway snapped her out of the reverie. 

"Draco," she whispered. "Stop it, we shouldn't…"

He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter?" he asked, kissing her again.

Liliana's mind was back in action, trying to remember what she had read about lust brews. "Draco," she whispered, closing her eyes, "I love you." He leant his forehead against hers and furrowed his brow. He shut his eyes and his face relaxed. When he opened them again, there was a realization present, and the unusual sparkle had faded. "Words of commitment always work to reverse the effects of a lust brew," she said heavily. She was beginning to feel dizzy from looking directly into his eyes, and looked down. "We shouldn't have…" she repeated. 

Draco lowered his lips to hers again, this time consciously, almost curiously, and kissed her. This time it was gentle, as though he had forgotten something on her lips the first time and to go back and retrieve it. When they broke apart, Liliana smiled, their noses tingled from the proximity. 

There was an odd expression in Draco's eyes. It was almost a child like amazement. He was apparently puzzled about something. He kept moving his lips, like he wanted to say something, but when he finally opened his mouth to speak, Liliana gasped. A light illuminated the hallway, metres away from where they stood. His hands had been pressed against the wall on either side of Liliana's head, but now he clasped her hand with his as they ran silently to where Liliana suspected was the Slytherin Commons room. When they reached the portrait hole, Draco turned and looked at her again. 

He bit his lip almost nervously before lowering his head to hers again.

"Don't," she said, turning her head to the side so that his kiss fell on her cheek. 

Draco looked around and dropped her hand quickly. "If you say a word to anyone," he began in his usual tone. 

Liliana ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "Bite me," she retorted, giving Draco the finger. 

"Where?" he jeered. 

"Just open the door…"     

*End of Chapter Eight*

A/N: Ok… so _this _has turned out to be my FAVOURITE chapter thus far. Maybe it's coz I like Liliana and Draco together. I doubt it'll last too long though *hint hint* Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, as usual. I REALLY did. Review if you can, it'd be appreciated…       


	9. Chocolate Frogs

A/N: I know you're all dying to find out what's been making me hyperventilate recently, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer. I found a picture that describes perfectly the kiss that Draco and Liliana shared in just one still… there's the link. It fits the mood and I'm still really excited about it! That's the only rant I have for this chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey, her family, and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. Just for fun. :-)

*Chapter Nine*

Liliana had chosen Gryffindor at dinner Friday night, and was now sitting on the floor of her new bedroom, eating chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes for breakfast, chatting animatedly with her sister.

"I'm telling you, the Ravenclaws are some of the nicest people that I've ever met. This one bloke, he's called Vaughn, he's got the most beautiful blue eyes," said Kitty dreamily, munching on a rather large frog. 

"Don't get too attached love," cautioned Liliana, "we're only spending a year here. Then we can go back home."

"Home," repeated Kitty.

"Yes. Home. You know the charming little villa in France that we'll inherit when one of us gets married…" said Liliana bitterly, aggressively biting the head off of a frog. 

"You know what I miss most about home?" asked Kathryn, ignoring the resentment in Liliana's voice. 

"What?"

"Mum's cooking." Liliana echoed her in disbelief. "Yes. I miss our mother's cooking." 

"Nice to hear that you're calling her 'Mum' again." 

"I've forgiven her," replied Kitty with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I miss her pâté de foie gras the most though," she added seriously.  

"That is truly disgusting Kitty. You know the only time she makes that is when Gram comes over." 

"True. But then she brings out the little Belgian biscuits and the caviar." 

"And the wine, we cannot forget the wine," joked Liliana. 

"But me piav pani" replied Kitty in Romany. 

Liliana sighed once again. "Kathryn. You can speak English, French, or even a tiny bit of Goblin, and I'll know what you're saying, but I am clueless when it comes to Romany, you know that." 

"What would our ancestors say if they could hear you now?" Liliana shrugged. "It means that I drink water, it's best for the skin." 

"You're kidding me. You've yet to hit puberty and you're concerned with your skin?" 

Kathryn scowled. "At least I can speak Romany, what can you do?" 

"I could speak it if I really wanted to," said Liliana, taking a cake to her mouth before pulling a face and setting it back down. "I'm stuffed."

"Don't change the subject. And I bet you five Galleons that you can't say anything in Romany to save your life!" Liliana cleared her throat importantly. 

"Te xav to biav! _And_ er, Ka jav te xenav tut!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet in triumph. 

"Do you know what you've just said?" asked Kitty, looking scandalized. 

"No," she said, sitting back down. "but you _do _owe me five Galleons."

"You said, 'may I eat at your wedding' and 'I am going to' er, 'have a bowel movement on you,'" said Kitty, pulling out her purse.   
  


"Eww," squealed Parvati, coming into the room. 

"Eww, what?" asked Hermione wearily from behind her. 

"They're talking about bowel movements!" she yelled, getting her toothbrush and going into the lavatory. Hermione, Liliana, and Kitty all rolled their eyes behind her back. 

"You know you're not supposed to be in here right?" asked Hermione, as she sat on her bed, taking her shoes off. 

"Me?" asked Kitty. 

"Yep," she responded, I have no problem with you staying… But, for next time." Kitty smiled in gratitude. "What're you two listening to?" 

"What are you talking about?" asked Liliana. She swore loudly when Kitty hit her across the arm. "What?" she repeated.

"The music," answered Kitty testily. 

"Oh, I'd forgotten that it was playing. But that is not a reason for you whacking me like that." 

"You're constantly being rude."

"And who are you? Ileana?" she turned to Hermione, "do you think I was being rude just now?" 

Hermione looked amusedly from Liliana to her little sister. "You were a tad short with me just then," she responded finally. 

"I'm going out," announced Parvati importantly from the lavatory. She stepped out smelling of over ripened fruit and hairspray. "With Seamus," she added. "We're going for a stroll." 

"So?" prompted Liliana. Kitty whacked her again. 

Parvati seemed not to notice. "If anyone asks," she said, smearing on her lipstick, "tell them that." She checked herself in the mirror once more before leaving. 

"Because someone's really going to ask," said Liliana sarcastically after she left. 

"And because we care enough to tell them," added Kitty deviously. 

"You hit _me _for being curt?" 

"Are you going to tell me what you're listening to?" interjected Hermione, feeling a little left out. 

"Oh," said Kitty, standing, and dusting crumbs from her blouse. She grabbed something from Liliana's night table and handed it to Hermione. "It's the newest from the Dark Mages." 

"Oh. But what is it?" asked Hermione, holding the small object carefully in both of her hands. 

"Muggle born are you?" asked Kitty. Hermione nodded, and tried to ignore the somewhat apologetic glance that Kitty gave her before she said, "I'm _sooo_ sorry." 

"She's sorry that you don't know what they are," said Liliana quickly, hoping to cover up her sister's naïveté. "It's a HP, a holographic projector, it er, projects an, er, projection of the band and plays their songs. Kitty, turn the hologram part on for her," she said, nudging her in the ribs. Kitty did as she was told and four tall men appeared on top of the disc like object. One of them was screaming into a microphone and the others were jumping around behind various instruments. 

"This one here is called Sydney," said Kitty, pointing to a man playing what was unmistakably a lute. "He's the most beautiful man alive."  
  


"Kitty. Men cannot be beautiful," said Liliana sensibly. As soon as it was out of her mouth, she regretted it. 

"Oh really?" asked Kitty, standing on Liliana's bed. Hermione wanted badly to say something, and would have, had she not been thoroughly enjoying the performance that the pair was unconsciously putting on. "Just earlier you were saying that that bloke Dra-," at that moment Liliana tackled her and she Kitty fell with an odd 'squishing' sound to the floor. "Chocolate…" she moaned. 

"Let me," said Hermione, standing over the two girls on the floor, both of whom were grumbling unpleasantly and struggling to get up off of the mess of chocolate frogs that they'd landed on. "Scourgify!" she exclaimed, and the chocolate was gone. 

"Thanks," they muttered as they stood. 

"It's no problem, but who's this person you're talking about?" asked Hermione, innocently sitting back down on her bed. 

"Go ahead," dared Liliana, rubbing a new bruise on her elbow. 

"Liliana thinks that some bloke named Draco is gorgeous," said Kitty, the fervor that once possessed her now gone. "She kissed him Thursday." 

"Kitty!" exclaimed Liliana, cupping a hand over Kitty's mouth. "You weren't really supposed to tell. You were supposed to say, 'never mind' and then move on!"

"You should have said that," said Kitty irritably, biting down on Liliana's fingers.   

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Draco Malfoy?" Liliana nodded and continued to glare at Kitty. "You didn't." Liliana nodded again. "You're kidding?" 

"No." 

"Did he notice anything?" asked Kitty, as though she had just remembered something. Liliana looked appraisingly from Kitty to Hermione before answering. 

"He might have noticed something, but I don't think that he knew quite what it was." 

"What are you talk-," began Hermione, but she was cut off by a loud voice coming from the bottom of the stairs. 

"Are there any girls up there? I need a favor!" 

A/N: Not as long as I would have liked, but this part of the story was just sitting on my computer, waiting for inspiration to finish it. I added some more to it and I think that this is an acceptable place to pause… (lol) don't worry, you won't have to wait as long as you did for this chapter for the next. _Did that make sense? _Hope you liked this, once again, I did. So review if you get a chance please. 

*Cheers* 


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